Hit And Run

I was watching one of the playoffs games last week. A runner from 1st broke for 2nd & the batter fouled the pitch off. Announcer says that the hit & run was on. Next pitch the runner from 1st goes again & this time the batter lines out to short who then turned it into an easy double play. That hit & run brought me back in time to when Gaff & I would coach together. Gaff was one for trying everything - hit & run, squeeze, safety squeeze, delayed steal. Several times our hit & run attempts turned into double plays at the youth level. But I will say that one girl was the best hit & run batter that we ever coached. Her name was Allie Joseph. Allie hit 2nd in our college lineup & she had tremendous concentration & bat control. You could count on Allie to hit the ball on the ground to advance the runner, while many times picking up a hit herself. The hit & run is a double edged sword - great when it works (the coach is a genius) to horrible when it doesn't (the coach is a bum). You coaches out there have to be willing to live with both results.